Excess Windows Services - What are Windows Services?

Windows Services are types of applications that run in background without a user interface. These applications provide core operating system features including error reporting, event logging, file serving, web serving, printing, cryptography, and more.

 

Your system can have hundreds of services running, many of which are not necessary. The more services running, the more system resources are in use. When you have so many demands on the resources, your computer’s performance begins to suffer. Luckily, Windows comes with a utility for managing services. To access this utility, go to the Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and click Services.

 

You’ll see a list of all services along with a description, the current status, and start up type.

 

You can click on the various services and access drop-down menus that allow you to start, stop, pause, resume, enable, or disable services. Clicking on a service name will display a detailed description of the service’s function.

 

While these services provide various useful functions, many are turned on by default and aren’t necessarily required for every computer. Some hog resources and can easily be disabled.

 

Indexing Service – This service indexes the contents of your computer allowing for faster search results. The problem with indexing is that the overall performance of your PC suffers – all for a faster occasional search. Disable this option and free up resources.

 

IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service – this service manages your CD recordings – if you have a CD burner installed. If you don’t have a CD burner, disable this service.

 

Messenger – this service is not related to Windows Messenger. It transmits net send and Alerter service messages between servers and clients. It is also a vulnerability that gives others access to your computer. Disable it.

 

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing – this service allows authorized users access to your computer remotely with NetMeeting over a corporate intranet. In most cases, you can disable this option.

 

Remote Desktop Help Session Manager – this service manages and controls Remote Assistance. Unless you want to share control of your PC, disable it.

 

Remote Registry – this service allows remote users to modify registry settings on your computer. Disable this entry and protect your PC against hackers modifying your registry.
 
System Restore Service – this service performs system restore functions. This services sucks up a great deal of resources and can be manually started prior to making changes to your system. Disable this service and use it manually prior to making any changes such as installing new hardware or software.

 

Telnet – this service allows remote users to log on to your computer and run programs. Unless you need to share your PC with Telnet, disable this service. Most people will not need this.

 

Themes – this service allows you to use themes. Themes take up a great deal of your system’s resources. Say good-bye to the cutesy themes and increase performance by disabling this service.

 

Uninterruptible Power Supply – this service manages an uninterruptible power supply connected to the computer. You can safely disable this if you don’t have an uninterruptible power supply.